Kelsea Ballerini
Happy 60th Anniversary, Barbie! Over the years, Barbie has been a princess, president, police officer, paleontologist, pediatrician … she’s tackled just about every career!
Mattel’s Barbie ‘Be Anything’ Tour celebrates 60 years of inspiring the limitless potential in every girl. The traveling pop-up tour, designed to inspire girls they can be anything, kicked off on Barbie’s 60th anniversary on March 9, at our very own Walmart in Rogers. Kelsea Ballerini, two-time GRAMMY nominee and chart-topping Country music star, dropped by to share her story with fans and show off the one-of-a-kind Barbie doll in her likeness inspired by her latest single, “Miss Me More.”
The Barbie role models program honors women who have broken boundaries to inspire the next generation of girls. Ballerini joins a global line-up of more than 20 role models honored for Barbie’s 60th anniversary.
Ballerini’s advice for girls is “to surround yourself with people that make you feel like you could do anything.”
“And if there are people that tell you that you can’t grow up and be a doctor, or a pilot, or a teacher, or a singer, or whatever, then maybe those aren’t the right people to have around you. Because history shows that you can do all those things, and so it’s just about having people in your ear that empower you and tell you (that) you can,” she says. “You just need the right voices around to help you realize that and chase that down the road.”
Ruby Kate Chitsey
Barbie fans also got to hear from Harrison, Arkansas, native Ruby Kate Chitsey, an 11-year-old raising funds for impoverished elderly in nursing homes. She may seem familiar to you as she’s been ALL over social media lately since being featured on CBS Sunday Morning after raising money for nursing home residents by simply asking them their three wishes. For her Three Wishes project, which started last summer, she asks nursing home residents the following question: “If I could bring you 3 things in the whole world, what would those be?” Through a GoFundMe account, she has currently raised more than $230,000 to help these patients get their wishes, such as a warmer blanket for their bed or new shoes. To learn more about Ruby Kate and her fundraising efforts, visit www.facebook.com/3wishesforrubysresidents/.
For more details about the Barbie ‘Be Anything’ Tour and all of its stops, visit www.walmart.com/barbiebeanything and follow #barbiebeanythingtour and #barbie60.
Fun Facts:
- Mattel co-founder Ruth Handler debuted the first Barbie, named after her daughter Barbara, in 1959. The doll wore a black-and-white striped swimsuit and came with white sunglasses and hoop earrings. More than 300,000 dolls sold in the first year.
- More than 100 Barbie dolls are sold every minute, with a total of 58 million sold annually. Barbie’s pink DreamHouse, which was introduced in 1962, sells once every two minutes.
- Astronaut Barbie debuted in 1965.
- In 1967, Twiggy became the first celebrity to get her own Barbie.
- In 2016, to better reflect the world girls see today, Barbie introduced three new body types: curvy, petite and tall. In 2017, the Barbie Fashionistas crew became more diverse than ever before, featuring more body types, skin tones, eye colors, hair colors, hairstyles and fashions.